another wild one in the books folks. exciting things are developing in the minichiello household. i can't go spilling all the beans just yet, but good things are in the works. all will reveal itself in due time. 

in addition to normal food deliveries and fitness classes, we had another styled shoot this week with some awesome new vendors. part of the color scheme this week was blush colors so i was digging deep into the grapefruit ideas to get a pop of color. i experimented with some great things, but the clear winner was this refreshing cocktail. 

paloma
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 3 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 4 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz tequila or mescal. 2 oz grapefruit juice. 1 oz lime juice. 1 tsp sugar. 3 oz club soda. 1 tsp grapefruit zest. 1 grapefruit slice. 1 tsp kosher salt. 4-5 ice cubes. 

start by combining your salt and grapefruit zest onto a shallow plate. mix till well combined.

rub the edge of your glass with a little bit of lime juice. 

then gently dip the rim of the glass into the salt and grapefruit zest mixture till you have lightly coated the rim of the glass. 

in the bottom of the glass, combine the grapefruit juice, lime juice and sugar. 

mix well till the sugar is dissolved. 

pour in the tequila and mix. 

add in the grapefruit slice and ice. 

top with the club soda. 

stir till combined and serve. 

xo, a

paloma
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 3 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 4 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz tequila or mescal. 2 oz grapefruit juice. 1 oz lime juice. 1 tsp sugar. 3 oz club soda. 1 tsp grapefruit zest. 1 grapefruit slice. 1 tsp kosher salt. 4-5 ice cubes. 
start by combining your salt and grapefruit zest onto a shallow plate. mix till well combined. 
rub the edge of your glass with a little bit of lime juice. then gently dip the rim of the glass into the salt and grapefruit zest mixture till you have lightly coated the rim of the glass. 
in the bottom of the glass, combine the grapefruit juice, lime juice and sugar. 
mix well till the sugar is dissolved. 
pour in the tequila and mix. 
add in the grapefruit slice and ice. 
top with the club soda. 
stir till combined and serve. 

real talk. it is freaking cold outside. most of the country is being drenched by winter rain at the moment and socal is no exception. it's been raining buckets all day, and i feel like i'm battling a cold so i need a bit of a pick me up. a warming, kick in the pants kind of pick me up. and i know the perfect thing...

hot toddy
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 7 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 oz rye whiskey (you can sub whatever whiskey you like or have on hand). juice of .5 lemon. 1 tsp brown sugar. 5 cloves. lemon twist. 2 cups hot water.

while your water is heating, make your twist. as soon as you have hot water, place 1 cup of water into your mug to warm it. 

using a vegetable peeler, peel the lemon not top to bottom, but around the outside of the lemon making a curl. try to keep just a bit of the pith on the peel. curl it up with your fingers and it will hold.

take your lemon twist and poke the cloves into it.

once your twist is made and pricked by cloves, dump out the water warming the mug.

place the brown sugar in the bottom of the mug and pour the remaining cup of water into the mug. 

stir well to combine.

add your clove studded twist to the mug. 

pour in the lemon juice and whiskey.

stir well to combine.

serve hot.

xo, a

hot toddy
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 7 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 oz rye whiskey (you can sub whatever whiskey you like or have on hand). juice of .5 lemon. 1 tsp brown sugar. 5 cloves. lemon twist. 2 cups hot water.
while your water is heating, make your twist. as soon as you have hot water, place 1 cup of water into your mug to warm it.
using a vegetable peeler, peel the lemon not top to bottom, but around the outside of the lemon making a curl. try to keep just a bit of the pith on the peel. curl it up with your fingers and it will hold.
take your lemon twist and poke the cloves into it.
once your twist is made and pricked by cloves, dump out the water warming the mug.
place the brown sugar in the bottom of the mug and pour the remaining cup of water into the mug. stir well to combine.
add your clove studded twist to the mug. pour in the lemon juice and whiskey. stir well to combine.
serve hot.